Post by blackadder23 on Jan 14, 2013 15:41:44 GMT -6
THE DERO
No. Encountered 2d6+1 (or hundreds in Eternia)
Alignment Chaotic Evil
Size M
Movement 40
Dexterity 15
Armor Class 5
Hit Dice 3+3
No. of Attacks 1 (hooked blade or ray)
Damage 1-6 or special
Saving Throw 15
Morale 12
Experience Points 300
Treasure Class A, S, T
Special:
*Infrared vision (as the spell) to 60 foot radius
*-1 to hit when exposed to bright light
*Save vs. death or suffer 1d8 points of damage per round of exposure to sunlight
*Immune to all poisons, all paralyzing effects, and anything that affects the mind or emotions
*Wields one or more ray weapons: paralysis (save vs. ray or be unable to move for 2d6 turns), pain (save vs. ray or suffer 2d6 damage in the form of excruciating agony), insanity (save vs. ray or go violently mad for 2d6 hours), or death (save vs. ray or explode into smoking chunks – not often used because it cheats the Dero of the chance to torture the victim)
Thousands of years ago, when Hyperborea still abided on Old Earth and Atlantis and Lemuria were at the height of their power, Lemurian colonists reared the magnificent city of Eternia in great caverns far beneath the Spiral Mountains. Over long centuries the city grew wealthy through trade with the surface, for the mighty caverns of Eternia were crusted with sparkling jewels and precious metals. The science of Eternia grew wise and subtle in the deep darkness and came to rival even mighty Atlantis itself, while the people of Eternia were among the tallest and fairest in existence (save perhaps the Hyperboreans themselves). Then came the fall of Atlantis and Lemuria and the coming of the glaciers that crawled over Hyperborea. The surface world no longer had enough wealth to interest Eternia, and in addition the people of that city feared the possible influx of refugees fleeing the natural disasters and other horrors on the surface. They had no desire to share their wealth or science with those who could not pay, so the people of Eternia closed all the paths from their city to the world above. By the time the glaciers receded, the very existence of Eternia had been forgotten by the surface dwellers. And the people of Eternia turned their eyes to the surface again, eyes grown strange from degenerating in the fathomless darkness…
The Dero are deformed, degenerate descendents of the once-noble inhabitants of Eternia. They are about four feet in height, with pale bluish skin and large staring white eyes. Their hair and long, drooping mustaches are a dirty ivory color. All Dero appear to be male, making their reproduction something of a mystery (some say all Dero are born from raped surface women, while others claim that surface dwellers are somehow turned into Dero through an infernal technological process). The Dero creep through caverns and dungeons and even venture onto the surface in the dead of night, seeking hapless humans as prey. They usually wear scaled or padded armor of curious design, made from odd metals and the skins of strange underground creatures. They are always armed with one or more ray weapons taken from the great arsenals of Eternia (these weapons are usually only good for one or two shots if wielded by a non-Dero, after which they fuse internally and are forever useless), and every Dero will carry a hooked scalpel-like instrument for purposes of torture and mutilation. Dero are indeed incredibly savage and sadistic in their behavior, given to kidnapping surface dwellers for gruesome torture and cannibal feasts; this is made all the more disturbing by their utter lack of apparent human emotion. The Dero are also given to bizarre, inexplicable behavior such as mutilating cattle and other livestock - often in ways that may be mistaken for demonic cult activity - and occasionally they will return a kidnap victim months or years later (typically such victims will be insane and deformed in curious and unexplainable ways). The Dero themselves appear to be insane by surface standards, and it is nigh impossible to predict what any given Dero will do at any moment – save that they will never display any emotion no matter how strong the provocation. The Dero speak their own vile-sounding language and may understand some surface languages, but they have never been known to converse intelligently with those from above.
The cavern city of Eternia contains many powerful projectors of invisible rays constructed by the ancient Eternians, and these are often used by the Dero to cause insanity, sickness, and disasters in the world above. (Given their apparent lack of all emotion, presumably including hatred, the Dero’s single-minded obsession with tormenting the people of the surface is also something of a mystery.) Since no surface dweller has returned alive and sane from Eternia in thousands of years, no description of the current state of that city exists; but given its teeming population of cannibal sociopathic sadists, it can only be assumed that Eternia is now a warren of untold and unprecedented horrors.
No. Encountered 2d6+1 (or hundreds in Eternia)
Alignment Chaotic Evil
Size M
Movement 40
Dexterity 15
Armor Class 5
Hit Dice 3+3
No. of Attacks 1 (hooked blade or ray)
Damage 1-6 or special
Saving Throw 15
Morale 12
Experience Points 300
Treasure Class A, S, T
Special:
*Infrared vision (as the spell) to 60 foot radius
*-1 to hit when exposed to bright light
*Save vs. death or suffer 1d8 points of damage per round of exposure to sunlight
*Immune to all poisons, all paralyzing effects, and anything that affects the mind or emotions
*Wields one or more ray weapons: paralysis (save vs. ray or be unable to move for 2d6 turns), pain (save vs. ray or suffer 2d6 damage in the form of excruciating agony), insanity (save vs. ray or go violently mad for 2d6 hours), or death (save vs. ray or explode into smoking chunks – not often used because it cheats the Dero of the chance to torture the victim)
Thousands of years ago, when Hyperborea still abided on Old Earth and Atlantis and Lemuria were at the height of their power, Lemurian colonists reared the magnificent city of Eternia in great caverns far beneath the Spiral Mountains. Over long centuries the city grew wealthy through trade with the surface, for the mighty caverns of Eternia were crusted with sparkling jewels and precious metals. The science of Eternia grew wise and subtle in the deep darkness and came to rival even mighty Atlantis itself, while the people of Eternia were among the tallest and fairest in existence (save perhaps the Hyperboreans themselves). Then came the fall of Atlantis and Lemuria and the coming of the glaciers that crawled over Hyperborea. The surface world no longer had enough wealth to interest Eternia, and in addition the people of that city feared the possible influx of refugees fleeing the natural disasters and other horrors on the surface. They had no desire to share their wealth or science with those who could not pay, so the people of Eternia closed all the paths from their city to the world above. By the time the glaciers receded, the very existence of Eternia had been forgotten by the surface dwellers. And the people of Eternia turned their eyes to the surface again, eyes grown strange from degenerating in the fathomless darkness…
The Dero are deformed, degenerate descendents of the once-noble inhabitants of Eternia. They are about four feet in height, with pale bluish skin and large staring white eyes. Their hair and long, drooping mustaches are a dirty ivory color. All Dero appear to be male, making their reproduction something of a mystery (some say all Dero are born from raped surface women, while others claim that surface dwellers are somehow turned into Dero through an infernal technological process). The Dero creep through caverns and dungeons and even venture onto the surface in the dead of night, seeking hapless humans as prey. They usually wear scaled or padded armor of curious design, made from odd metals and the skins of strange underground creatures. They are always armed with one or more ray weapons taken from the great arsenals of Eternia (these weapons are usually only good for one or two shots if wielded by a non-Dero, after which they fuse internally and are forever useless), and every Dero will carry a hooked scalpel-like instrument for purposes of torture and mutilation. Dero are indeed incredibly savage and sadistic in their behavior, given to kidnapping surface dwellers for gruesome torture and cannibal feasts; this is made all the more disturbing by their utter lack of apparent human emotion. The Dero are also given to bizarre, inexplicable behavior such as mutilating cattle and other livestock - often in ways that may be mistaken for demonic cult activity - and occasionally they will return a kidnap victim months or years later (typically such victims will be insane and deformed in curious and unexplainable ways). The Dero themselves appear to be insane by surface standards, and it is nigh impossible to predict what any given Dero will do at any moment – save that they will never display any emotion no matter how strong the provocation. The Dero speak their own vile-sounding language and may understand some surface languages, but they have never been known to converse intelligently with those from above.
The cavern city of Eternia contains many powerful projectors of invisible rays constructed by the ancient Eternians, and these are often used by the Dero to cause insanity, sickness, and disasters in the world above. (Given their apparent lack of all emotion, presumably including hatred, the Dero’s single-minded obsession with tormenting the people of the surface is also something of a mystery.) Since no surface dweller has returned alive and sane from Eternia in thousands of years, no description of the current state of that city exists; but given its teeming population of cannibal sociopathic sadists, it can only be assumed that Eternia is now a warren of untold and unprecedented horrors.
Maybe I'll call it an "hommage". ;D
and I also decided that Dero were immune to magic because of an utter disbelief in it. For this reason, I changed their treasure classes so they no longer bother to collect "worthless" magic items (basically they only horde very precious metals and jewels). Their special attacks and immunities make them very dangerous despite their mere 3+3 HD, so I don't think the valuable treasure is out of line!
